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Manufacturing sales volumes in New Zealand rose during the June-quarter by 1 percent q/q after two-quarters of declines. There were strong gains in meat and dairy volumes, as well as other food and beverages. However, there were declines in most of the non-food categories, including a reversal of the sharp jump in transport and machinery that had boosted the March quarter.
Stripping out the meat and dairy impact, ‘core’ sales volumes fell 0.2 percent q/q, after a lift of 1.5 percent q/q in Q1. Of the 12 core industries, seven recorded higher sales volumes, while five experienced falls. Petroleum and coal product manufacturing (-10.4 percent q/q) and chemical, polymer and rubber product manufacturing (-7.9 percent q/q) were the biggest drags (reversing opposite moves in Q1).
"Nonetheless it reinforces further downside risk to our Q2 GDP expectations (currently +1.0 percent q/q). We already saw downside risk following the softer-than-expected building work data earlier in the week. Today’s figures add to that," ANZ Research commented in its latest report.
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